Patrick Reed’s win more good news for Humana

Judging by some of the reaction on various social media sites Sunday night, not everyone is in love with Patrick Reed and his supreme confidence in his ability to play golf.

But when Reed closed out his third win on the PGA Tour in the last 14 starts Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, there were plenty of smiles from happy people at the offices of the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. That’s because Reed, who won the Humana title in January, just did more for the tournament than most fans could imagine. He gave the desert tournament more publicity than money can buy, and he’s going to keep giving the tournament that publicity until next year’s Humana.

You could see the impact on the local tournament during Sunday’s final round of the Cadillac event. NBC’s Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller and even on-course reporter Roger Maltbie talked about Reed’s win at the Humana. They talked about Reed as not just an up-and-coming star, but someone who is putting his name into a select group, a player under 24 who has won three times on the tour. Reed’s name was mentioned in the same breath with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Why is this good for the Humana? Because every business, whether it be a car dealership or a golf tournament, wants to be associated with greatness. There is a reason the Humana (then the Bob Hope) cherished two victories by Phil Mickelson in 2002 and 2004 and loved the idea that Mickelson won the Masters later in 2004. Because they knew that the Masters champion and one of the best players of all time was assured of coming back to their tournament the following year, bringing fans and media interest with him.

First WGC winner

That’s not to say that the three winners before Reed at the Humana weren’t fine players and good winners for the tournament. But Jhonattan Vegas, Mark Wilson and Brian Gay, respectively, haven’t won a tour event between them since their wins at the Humana. The last player to win a tour event in the same year he won the Humana was Bill Haas in 2010, when he won the Viking Classic. No player before Reed won the Humana and a WGC event in the same year.

Reed will certainly be talked about at other WGC events and at majors, and there is a strong possibility now of a Ryder Cup berth. And every time he’s talked about, there is a chance a television commentator or magazine reporter will mention that Reed won the Humana Challenge earlier in the year. Internet searches for Reed will no doubt pop up “Humana Challenge.” It all serves to give the local tournament more legitimacy with fans and, yes, potential sponsors to know that the tournament attracted a rising star and will have the player in the field again in 2014.

So Reed’s belief that he can be a top-five player in the world, or his willingness to wear Tiger Woods’ red-and-black Sunday combination on Sunday with Woods playing in the group ahead of Reed, might rub some the wrong way. But his play in the last eight months has to be seen as some of the best golf the tour has seen in that span. And it has to be good news for the Humana Challenge, which will welcome Reed back with open arms in 2015.

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@the